Bob's mosquito count now totalled over 80 which made for a frenzied breakfast of scratching, steroid cream application and disbelief at my relative untastiness to the critters. Fortunately Alex dispensed a pack of antihistamines which soon hit the spot but checking out was still interspersed with random bouts of scratching as we headed down the drive on our heavily laiden TukTuk.

We arrived down the coast at our last minute booking and inwardly groaned. We were spending less than 24 hours here but the shabby compound was certainly a come down from our previous villa, and not much less in price! Functionally it was fine, though Bob was already spotting entrances for mosquitos to enter overnight so we retired to the beach where the sea and sand made everything feel better.

Overheated and salty I got down to the busy work of booking flights and transport to the Shetland Isles which required an internet connection and as such, no protection from the heat of the middle of the day.

All caught up with my to do list I returned to the beach with a cold coke for Bob and we soaked up the little bit of paradise until the sun went down and we headed out for supper. The tuna Thial which I adventurously tried was a true Sri Lankan experience and just on the limit of my tastebuds, but all 6 separate components tasted incredible as we sat under the gently waving boughs of the lantern strewn tree. Bats flitting through the moonlight chasing insects as confirmed that puddings were not Sri Lanka's strong suit and we returned to find a friendly frog on our bed. Bob did her best to make herself insect proof and we fell asleep with mixed feelings about our onward journey to the cool mountains of Kandy by bus the following morning.